The light of the Prophet was not a shadow.

Maulana Muhammad Abdul Mannan

The Light of the Prophet had no shadow

[PBUH]

When one’s heart, mind, vision and intuition are enlightened about the Nooraniyat (being the light) of Hazrat Mustafa (PBUH), then the fact that Hazrat Mustafa (PBUH) had no shadow becomes clear to him. Because light and shadow cannot be combined. Among the countless miracles with which Almighty God has blessed the Leader of the Universe (PBUH), one of the greatest miracles is that there was no shadow on his luminous body. Therefore, every believer must accept this miracle of Hazrat Imam (PBUH). The leading scholars of the Ummah have collected and recorded numerous evidences in favor of this matter. In this article, we will try to briefly mention some of those evidences. Hazrat Imam Nasafi said: Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Allah has not caused your shadow to fall on the earth so that a man may not set his foot upon your shadow. [Interpretation of the Downloading Records: Vol. 3: Page 103] Meaning: Hazrat Usman, may Allah be pleased with him, said to the Holy Court of the Holy Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, “Indeed, Allah has not caused your shadow to fall on the earth so that a man may not set his foot upon it.” [Tafsir-i Madariqut Tanzil: Volume 3: p. 103]
Hazrat Imam Abdullah Ibn Mubarak, a special disciple of Sayyiduna Imam-e-A’zam Abu Hanifa (may Allah be pleased with him), and Muhaddith Ibn Juzi Rasul Mufassireen (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated from Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) –
“There was no shade for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he never stood with the sun except that his light was overwhelming.” The light of the lamp [Jam’ul Wasa’il al-Sir’aj: Vol. 1, p. 176, Zarqani on the gifts: Vol. 4, p. 22, Sharh Shamail al-Manawwi: Vol. 1, p. 47]
Meaning: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had no shadow. Whenever he stood in front of the sun, his light would prevail over the light of the sun. Whenever he stood in the light of a lamp, his light would certainly prevail over the light of the lamp.
[Jam’ul Wasa’il: Vol. 1, p. 176,
Zarqani on the gifts: Vol. 4, p. 22,
Sharh Shamail: Vol. 1, p. 47]
Hazrat Hakim Tirmidhi narrated from Hazrat Zaqwan Tabi’i (may Allah be pleased with him) –
That the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not see his shadow in the sun or in the moon. [Tirmidhi – Nawadir al-Asul: Zarqaani: Vol. 4, Page: 340]
Meaning: The shadow of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was not seen in the sun or in the moonlight.
[Tirmidhi, Nawadir al-Usool, Zarqaani: Vol. 4, p. 240]
Hafizul Hadith Allama Jalaluddin Suyuti (may Allah have mercy on him) has arranged a separate chapter in his ‘Khasa-e-Isul Kubra’ and writes:
Chapter of the verse: Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had no shade for him in the sun or in the moonlight.
Allama Ibn Sa’i said: “Ibn Sab’i said that among the characteristics of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was that his shadow did not fall on the ground, and that he was a light, so when he walked in the sun or the moon, no shadow was visible to him.” [Al-Khaasaa’ee al-Kubra: Vol. 1, Page: 68] Meaning: Ibn Sab’i said that among the characteristics of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was that his shadow did not fall on the ground, because he was a light. When he walked in the light of the sun or the moon, his shadow could not be seen.
Hazrat Imam Qazi Ayaz (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote:
And it is not mentioned that there was no shadow for his person in the sun or the moon, because he was a light, and that the mosquito did not fall on his body or his clothes. [Shifaa Sharif: Vol. 1: Page: 242]
Meaning: Among the evidences of the Prophethood and Messengership of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is the fact that the shadow of his luminous body did not fall in the light of the sun or the moon. Because, he was light. And undoubtedly, a fly never settled on his most pure body and on his blessed clothes. [Shefa Sharif: Volume 1: Page 242]
It is narrated from Hazrat Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad Qastlani (may Allah have mercy on him) who is the commentator of Bukhari Sharif –
There was no shadow for him (peace be upon him) in the sun or the moon. Meaning: The shadow of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was not visible in the light of the sun or the moon. (The reason for this was that Huzoor-i Akram was a light. – Imam Zarqani)
Shaykh Husain ibn Muhammad Diyarul Bakri (may Allah have mercy on him) said –
His shadow did not fall on the earth, nor was his shadow seen in the sun or the moon. [Book of Thursday]
Meaning: His shadow did not fall on the earth, nor was it seen in the light of the sun or the moon. [Kitabul Khamis]
Hazrat Imam Raghib Isfahani (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote:
It is narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to walk without any shade. [Mufradat Imam Raghib: Page: 317]
Meaning: It is narrated that when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to walk (in the sun or in the moonlight), there would be no shade.
In addition, Imam Shihabuddin Khaffazi Misri, Allama Burhanuddin Ahmad Halabi, Allama Shihabuddin Ahmad Ibn Hajar M.